Starry Night Over Pandora
by The Doctor 9
Summary: When your world is devoid of life, and you can't find any meaning, what does a young artist do when he gets the chance to go to Pandora and to see the beauty of another world in all of its glory? OC/OC Jake/Neytiri...Trying to get back into the game, so I'm not sure how this will turn out. This is not a self insert.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, everyone, since I have major writers block with my other stories, either that or I have been so busy with other projects, not to mention college and work, I decided I wanted to write another story, just to get me back into shape. To be honest, its getting a little harder to write, because I lost my motivation for so long. And now, I want to get back into it, but with all the crap that has been going on lately. Sometimes I wonder why I still do this. **

**Sorry I'm acting a little depressed right now, a lot of stuff has happened lately...anyway, here is my new story. It's a little different from some of my other stories.  
**

* * *

**Vincent's POV  
**

Vincent was currently in his room. He was still a young man as some would say. He was only about nineteen, but this young adult had already given up on his world. You see, Vincent was an aspiring young artist, he loved color and the way they could flow with each other on a canvas. But when you are a young child growing up in an orphanage, in a world where all you can see is gray. You can feel no life from the cities scattered across the globe. The closest he had ever been to a colorful scene was when he had visited an art exhibit.

It was then that he found the paintings of Van Gogh, a man who served as his inspiration. Add that onto the fact that they even had the same name even made Vincent smile. However, he only got a quick look, and then he was back out into the gloomy world.

Vincent lived alone, the orphanage where he grew up would keep you until you turned sixteen, after that, you were sent out to find a job and to live on your own. Vincent had managed to get a small job working as a janitor. Although he barely made enough money to get himself by. Add that on to the fact that all he wanted to do was to travel and to paint, but once again the fact that he was stuck on this world made him realize that those dreams were pointless.

While he would rather be painting a green landscape, he was stuck painting a dead plant in his apartment. He had tried to take care of the plant, but it was nearly impossible to take good care of it when you couldn't find good soil to keep it alive and healthy.

"Yet another day in this lifeless world." He said as he threw the canvas to the ground.

He wanted to know what it would be like to paint something full of life. Not stuck with painting a gray and black flower. When would an opportunity present itself.

**KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!**

"A visitor? At this time of night?" He asked himself as he cleaned off his hands in his sink and looked through the peephole in his door.

All he saw were two men in suits carrying a briefcase, he didn't understand what they were doing at his apartment. But he was going to find out. He proceeded to unlock the multiple locks he had placed on his door when he had to deal with a burglar about a month ago. It was annoying to deal with, especially with the crime rate going up in the city. Finally, he opened the door as the men looked at a holo screen with his face on it.

"Mr. Vincent? I'm sorry there is no last name." The taller man on the right said as Vincent waved him off.

"There is no last name, I am simply a orphan with no name." He said as the other man held up his briefcase.

"Well, we are here to deliver some good news." He said as they came in and sat down at his table.

"What is this about?" Vincent asked as he cleared off some of his paint brushes.

"Well, according to this, you entered the powerball about a week ago." The man said as Vincent nodded.

"Well, congratulations, you have won the prize of 2 Million Dollars." The man said as he held the check to a shocked Vincent.

It...was too good to be true! Vincent narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man.

"Is this authentic? Or did the neighbors put you up to this?" He asked as he slammed his fist down on the table.

"I assure you, we are legitimate, here are our credentials." They said as they handed him the holo pad.

There was no trace of forgery, and even if there was, it was extremely difficult to fake a holographic image, so Vincent just let it go. And he looked down and smiled at the check. He then looked to the two men.

"I can finally get out of this dump...but...there is only one place I can think about going." He said as he turned to his TV.

_"Today, Unobtanium mining has slowed down from recent activity." _A woman's voice said over the TV as the men looked at him like he was crazy.

"Are you insane? Even if you go as a civilian, you will not be able to pay for a return trip back! You would waste all of your money!" The smaller man said as Vincent looked at them.

"I don't care! I'm not coming back here anyway!" He said as he laughed in a way that made them think he was a lunatic.

"Whatever...crazy man, the money would have been better off with someone else." The men agreed with each other as they left.

Vincent just continued to laugh, he finally had a way out of here, and to some other world! He had seen small video footage of Pandora, and he could not begin to describe the beauty he had seen from the footage. He knew a way he could get onto a flight there, but he would have to pull a favor from his friend. He picked up his phone and dialed a number that would give him salvation.

"Hey David, its Vincent...I got an idea..." He said as he continued his conversation in the darkness of his apartment.

* * *

**MAJOR TIME SKIP (Six Years)  
**

True to their word, Vincent had spent all of his money preparing for this trip, luckily though, he had enough money to pay for enough Canvas and paint to last him for a lifetime. After that, he boarded the first space flight to Pandora. The world that had been in his dreams for the past six years. While you didn't dream in Cyro, Vincent could have sworn that he could see the imagery and the color of Pandora.

Right now, he was on the shuttle going down to the planet, he could not see it yet due to being in a cargo bay, he could see his extra cargo that was taking up space in the back of the shuttle, he was certain that the marines were going to pissed when they found out that they would have to help him haul all of that into the base.

"Exo Packs on!" The enlisted man in charge yelled as everyone proceeded to place the oxygen masks on their faces.

Soon enough, they were all on their way out of the shuttle, however, there were a couple of marines who were glaring holes at the back of Vincent's head.

"Why the hell are we dragging this damn civilian's crap around? This stuff is absolutely useless!" One grunt said as the other just yelled back at him.

"Will you shut up and push?!" His friend yelled as Vincent was completely unaware of the two marines spite for him.

"Excuse me?" A voice said as he turned to see a woman next to her.

"Are you Vincent?" She asked as he nodded.

"Dr. Augustine would like to see you." The woman said as he started to follow her.

He was wearing his black pinstripe suit with a black tie with some black converse high tops. He knew why Dr. Augustine wanted to see him, you see he could not just come to Pandora without volunteering to help, so he signed up for a position as a lab assistant, in other words, he would most likely be in charge of serving some of the scientists food, and at times he would also have to cook for the soldiers and marines. So in other words, he was little more then a glorified janitor and cook.

"Dressed a little formal for being on an alien moon." The woman said as he smiled.

"Well, I had some spare money after coming here, so I figured I would get out of the old rags I was in." He said as he did enjoy the new suit and shoes.

"Ah, I heard rumors about you, you were supposedly close to being evicted when you got lucky with winning a lottery ticket, got to say, most civilians wouldn't want to come here. Why did you come?" She asked as Vincent held up a hand.

"Wouldn't it be polite to introduce yourself first?" He asked as the woman held her hand to her chest.

"Oh sorry, I forgot, My name is Alexandra Black." She said as she held out her hand and he gave her a firm handshake.

"A pleasure, my name is just Vincent, no last name." He said as she looked confused at that.

"No last name? Why not?" She asked as he waved her off.

"It's personal." He said as they walked through a series of hallways.

The marines from earlier had placed his painting materials into a storage room away from the armory and labs, so he was given an access card to the vault where they would be held. Right now, he had only one blank canvas and a messenger bag full of his paints, brushes, and other tools he would need. He needed to find a stand, but he had a feeling he would find one soon enough.

"Excuse me Dr. Augustine! I brought the new assistant as you requested." Alexandra said as a red headed woman looked back at Vincent.

"You can leave now Alexandra." She said as Vincent stuck out his hand.

"How do you do Miss, I'm Vincent." He said as she just looked at his hand.

"I know who you are, and frankly I don't like the fact that you are here." She said giving off a slight glare.

"Excuse me?" Vincent asked in surprise.

"I read up on your file, you're only here because you got lucky, and managed to get a ride here, so now I have another dead weight next to that jarhead that just showed up." She said as Vincent looked over at a man in a wheelchair who just waved.

"Grace where are you going?" A fellow doctor said as she was walking off.

"To go see Selfridge, see where he gets off on sending me more people to babysit!" She said as Vincent looked down.

"Hey relax man, She did the same to me, maybe she takes a little getting used to." The Marine said as Vincent held out a hand.

"I'm Vincent, what is your name?" He asked the marine.

"I'm Jake Sully." He said as Vincent smiled.

"So what are you? Some sort of painter?" He asked as he noticed the canvas and tools in his arms.

"Yes! Well, practicing painter, as you can see, there really is no need for art back on earth, I figured coming here would give me more of an opportunity." He said as Jake smiled.

"Good for you to follow your dreams." Jake said as Vincent went wide eyed.

"Really? You don't think its stupid?" Vincent asked as Jake shook his head.

"Of course not, what kind of man would I be if i put someone down because of their dreams? Besides, lets face it, back home is boring." Jake said as Vincent smiled.

"I think this is the start of a good friendship." Vincent said as he started to talk to Jake.

* * *

**WITH GRACE  
**

"You're telling me I am stuck with some Jarhead reject and a wannabe artist?!" Grace yelled as Selfridge tried to putt into a cup.

"Relax Grace, look on the bright side, on one hand you got a bodyguard that you can order around, and you got some guy who won't carry a gun, so what if he paints, its not like those paintings will amount to anything, so I don't care." Selfridge said as Grace was starting to breath heavily.

"Just try not to screw me over so much from now on, I don't need more people for the Na'vi to be afraid of." She said as she walked out of the room.


	2. The First Painting

**Okay, everyone, suddenly I feel inspired to write again, not just another chapter, but another story, seriously I don't know what came up, but something is getting me back into the game. Anyway, I'm surprised that this story was received as well as it was. But here we go. The next chapter, lets hope it turns out alright.  
**

* * *

**Vincent**

Vincent was currently looking out the window at Pandora, Jake and Norm had gone to get into their avatar bodies. He however did not have one, although he didn't care, he had an exo pack to help him get around outside. But he was really looking forward to getting out there and painting. However that was easier said then done, the only spot where there was open land for the RDA was all under control by Selfridge for his own personal driving range. And the soldiers had the mining operation going on, so it was a little difficult to get around, hopefully they would go out for a research trip so that he would get a chance to see the immense beauty and danger of Pandora.

"Hey Vincent! Jake escaped from the Test room, if you wanted a chance to go outside, you can do so in the Avatar playground." Alexandra said as Vincent smiled and ran away.

"I'll be back really soon!" He yelled as he ran to his room.

He already had his homemade artist's kit, which he used to store all of his brushes and paint, but right now all he needed left to get was his easel and a canvas. And he was in and out of there as quick as a horse at the racetrack. He could barely contain his excitement as he stumbled over the straps on his exo pack. And when he finally came back, he walked over to Alexandra and smiled.

"I'm ready." He said as she smiled at his enthusiasm.

"You looking to paint something?" She said as he just nodded at her.

"Of course! It's the main reason I came here!" He said as he followed her out the door.

"Well, that's interesting, we have scientists, marines, and corporate managers on Pandora, no artists though, well I look forward to seeing your first painting." Alexandra said as Vincent actually looked shocked.

Much like his idol, most people didn't appreciate his paintings, mostly because they didn't like to see stuff that they couldn't make money off of. So most of his paintings ended up in a dumpster or taking up space in his apartment. But to hear that someone actually wanted to see one was shocking to the young man. Vincent smiled, but on the inside, he accepted the fact that she would probably react like the others.

"Well...Uhm, I guess I better get started then." He said as the door opened up to the outside.

His eyes widened as they were assaulted by the various color of the land around him. Gone was the cold grey confines of the base, before him were exotic plants of all shapes and sizes. He saw what appeared to be a garden in the distance growing some strange blue fruit. He didn't know if humans could eat them, but they looked tasty anyway. And he was definitely going to paint those later.

But what really caught his attention was the floating mountain in the distance that was overshadowing the immense forest beneath it. Vincent smiled as he ran over to the area.

"HEY WATCH IT!" A man in an AMP suit said as Vincent cut in front of him.

"Sorry!" He said as he laughed anyway.

He ran straight across the Avatar basketball court where he saw a couple flirting and playing with each other. They had honestly never seen a human run that fast. But it was interesting to see anyway. Especially with the stuff he was carrying.

"This is fantastic!" He yelled as he was now tempted to take his shoes off so that he could feel the dirt underneath his feet.

However, he didn't want to risk there being any toxins in the ground that could be absorbed through the feet or something. He wasn't sure if that was just him being paranoid or if it was a legitimate fear, but either way, all he wanted to do was paint. When he found a perfect spot, he unfolded his easel and stabbed the legs into the ground and gave it a firm shake making sure the easel was steady before he put the canvas on it. He then latched the corners into a locking mechanism so that the canvas would not move from its place. He had lost count of how many times he had ruined a painting because he could not keep the canvas steady.

"Just one more thing." He said as he looked around.

He saw a human scientist get out of a lawn chair over at the bunkhouse, so he ran over and stole it from the area. He then proceeded to get himself ready by getting his paints out and putting them on a palette, as well as picking out the brushes he was going to need. He then took a quick glance over at the mountain and the forest and got his brush ready.

"And here we go..the first painting on Pandora." He said as he was soon in a trance and just started to paint.

* * *

**SOME TIME LATER  
**

"Ms. Black! Where is Mr. Vincent?" Grace yelled as she needed him to do some things before it got dark.

"He's over here." She said as she was watching Vincent from a distance.

Grace was about to go over and order the young man around when Alexandra stood in front of her. She held her hands out in a blocking motion as she started to speak up to Grace who was still in her avatar body.

"Woah! Hang on, give him a few more minutes." Alexandra said as Grace leaned against the wall.

Vincent had been sitting still for hours, the only motions he made were of his arm making brushing movements. Grace just looked down at her watch. She supposed she could cut him some slack on his first day. But she was not going to wait forever.

"Interesting isn't it?" Alexandra said as Grace looked at her.

"What is?" She asked as Ms. Black looked at her.

"Well, that someone besides us is actually appreciating the landscape, not trying to destroy it like the miners and corporate big wigs." She said as Grace sighed.

"He's not going to last long here, chances are he'll be moved up to work for the jarheads and will become just like them." Grace said as she had seen plenty of people from her department switch over to the mining facility.

"Come on, give the guy a break, you should try to talk to him before you judge him, Jake doesn't seem that bad." She said as Grace sighed.

"I'm going to log out, I need a cigarette." She said as Alexandra looked at her.

"Those things will kill you." She said as Grace just sighed again.

"So will the air here but that's not stopping us." She said as Alexandra saw as Vincent was coming up.

"You done?" She asked as she went to look at it until for Vincent to pull away.

"No, it still needs to dry, I don't want anything to happen until the paint dries." He said as Alexandra held up her hands.

"Okay, well lets hope that nothing happens to it, maybe then we can hang it in the bunkhouse." She said as Vincent raised an eyebrow.

"That sounds like a little kid who gets his drawing put up on the fridge." He said as she giggled and scratched the back of her head.

"Sorry, that did sound kind of strange." She said as he placed the painting in a isolated yet safe part of the bunkhouse.

"It's okay, right now, I'm hungry, what's for dinner?" He asked as she held up a small packet.

"Rehydrated shrimp with Garlic sauce." She said as Vincent shrugged.

"It's not the worse thing I've ever eaten, I didn't even know that shrimp still existed, I thought they went extinct." He said as she shrugged.

"It has something to do with that whole animal cloning re population project." She said as Vincent remembered seeing something like that on TV.

Apparently, humanity could now take old samples of DNA from extinct animals and clone them to bring them back to life. He remembered reading about how they had done it with Tigers, Bears, Wolves, and other animals. But what confused him is where they kept all the cloned species? Obviously there was no habitat on earth that could support them, it confused him as to how they kept them healthy.

"Either way, I'm starving, lets go." He said as he held out his hand to help Alexandra up a step.

"Well aren't you a gentleman?" She asked as she suddenly pulled back and saw her hand was covered in paint.

"Oops...not as much as I would like to think, I can't even remember to wash my hands after painting." He said as he chuckled at his forgetfulness.

Alexandra just laughed along with him. And the two walked off to join everyone else at the dinner table.


End file.
